Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a contactless chip card interfaces which are used in plastic cards, frequently referred to as credit cards, checking cards, money cards or the like. The contactless interface is used within the plastic cards to perform computational and storage functions.
ISO Standards guarantee that geometrical dimensions of regions of the cards for applying information are clearly defined and limited from one another. The position of contacts on chip cards is also standardized. The positioning of these contacts generally deteriorates the usual application of information and the commercial design of the card. Previous standards have left the desires to standardize contactless card unaffected except to make the contactless cards fully compatible with existing, issued cards.
Currently chips are available which use contacts for their functioning. The contacts are embedded in traditional plastic cards, such as credit cards.
Plastic cards having a magnetic strip for data storage are the most widely used type. These magnetic strip cards often additionally contain a mechanical impression in their plastic part for storing data. Plastic cards without magnetic strips, but having mechanical impressions, are also utilized. Impressed data and data on the magnetic strip can be easily detected and duplicated by unauthorized persons. Often, security codes are stored on the magnetic strip which can, likewise, be duplicated by unauthorized persons.